Couscous as Golden Food: Colonial Circulation, Cultural Recoding, and Asymmetric Recognition in France
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63556/tisej.2026.1911Keywords:
Couscous, Food Imperialism, Golden Food, Maghrebi Cuisine, Gastronomic AssimilationAbstract
This study examines the historical transformation of couscous in French colonial and postcolonial contexts to develop the "Golden Food" framework. This theoretical framework explains the paradoxical disparity between the gastronomic valorization of a food and the social recognition accorded to its associated communities. Using a qualitative, theory-developing historical single-case design based on document analysis, the research traces the dish’s culinary trajectory. Findings reveal that the incorporation of couscous into French food culture occurred through overlapping mechanisms: colonial exoticization, military-administrative political commensality, industrial standardization, and postcolonial migration. Crucially, this culinary mainstreaming coexisted with measurable structural inequalities affecting Maghrebi-origin populations. The study defines "Golden Food" through four criteria: power-asymmetric circulation, expanded valorization, selective cultural recoding, and asymmetric recognition. The framework demonstrates that the cultural incorporation of a food does not guarantee the equivalent social incorporation of its associated people. Finally, the 2020 UNESCO inscription illustrates the postcolonial rearticulation of couscous as shared, living Maghrebi heritage.
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